Lord Kalki: His Appearance Signifies the End of the Kali Yuga

Who throughout the Orient has never heard the prophecies about the coming of Lord Maitreya?

Within the world of Islam and Arabic culture, how often is The Madhi invoked, and this soon expected savior prayed to?

Then there is the first appearance of the long-awaited Messiah for practitioners of traditional Judaism the world over.

Finally, there is the little-known (within Western society) and eagerly anticipated Vishnu Avatar of Hinduism known as Lord Kalki, who is propitiated by millions around the globe.

Lord Kalki: The Tenth and Final Maha-Vishnu Avatar

There are ten major incarnations of Lord Vishnu within the tradition of Hinduism. There are approximately twenty-five incarnations of Lord Vishnu that have been identified within the current cycle of time as defined by the four yugas. Of these, the last major three include, in order of their most recent appearance, Lord Buddha, Lord Krishna, and Lord Rama. Lord Kalki is the tenth and final incarnation of the Maha (Great) Vishnu Avatars. His appearance marks the end of the Kali Yuga (also known as the Iron Age) and the establishment of a new spirituality based on divine revelation and scriptural truths, both of which issue forth directly from the Lord, Himself.

Steel Engraving of the Kalki Avatar

Why is Lord Kalki’s appearance on the world stage so significant?

There are actually many reasons, but two are most critical for the current race of humanity to understand.

I. When Lord Kalki incarnates he does so to usher in the end of the Kali Yuga[1], an age known as much for the degradation of the earth realm as it is for the decrease in true spirituality.

II. Lord Kalki comes as a response to the yearnings of the many righteous truthseekers, spiritual aspirants and faithful devotees across the planet. His global mission focuses on the re-establishment of spiritual wisdom, true religious traditions and authentic scriptures for the upliftment of humankind.

Who would not agree that Planet Earth has undergone an extraordinary deterioration of its biosphere and all the habitats, ecosystems and environments which comprise it?

Who could argue that living a pure life on earth becomes more difficult and challenging with each passing year?

Who has not cried out to heaven in distress about the social degeneration and political turmoil, financial chaos and economic unpredictability, pain and suffering caused by unending war and armed combat?

When this plane of existence no longer supports the most basic reason for human existence, the Lord does appear, as he has within various cultures and nations for millennia. There is only one difference today. And that is the truly global village which the entire planet has become. By virtue of the World Wide Web everyone can tap into a virtual Akashic Record. The internet has allowed anyone who’s digitally connected to access a rudimentary version of the Cosmic Mind.

It is no accident that many of the technological developments and communication advancements of the past few decades have occurred during this momentous period of planetary evolution.

A relief carving of Lord Kalki — the 10th Incarnation of Lord Vishnu

The Spiritual Philosophy of the East Comes to Western Civilization

Many who visit the East question why there is such widespread and apathetic acceptance of a significantly lower quality of life. Likewise, many Westerners wonder why so little is done to lift the people up to a higher standard of living on the material level.
In fact, much of the psychological conditioning and temperament is drawn from their religious beliefs and cultural education regarding the Kali Yuga and the coming of the Kalki Avatar. They know that the natural devolution of the earth plane will take place as a prelude to the Lord Himself assuming a human incarnation.

Unlike the West, where there is both individual fascination and societal preoccupation with always making things better through scientific advancement and technological innovation, the East accepts the current fate of the planetary civilization. They are happy to accept their individual lot in life, just as they are resigned to the destiny of their collective karmas as a nation. Hence, their general posture toward life seems to be fatalistic, but really isn’t. They philosophize: Why not use the very limited time left to advance oneself spiritually during this era when the Lord will walk(ed) among us?

Enter Lord Kalki — the Maha-Vishnu Avatar

Please be aware that when Jesus, or the Buddha, or Lord Krishna walked the Earth, only a very, very few truly knew who they were. Especially during the Kali Yuga, when unrighteousness reigns across the land, do relatively few devotees of the Lord know it is even Him. That’s the way it always is; that’s the way it will always be.

However, during the time of the Kalki, the thirst for true spirituality becomes a universal desire. Therefore, the truly pious and devout from every race and culture, every nation and society, will seek an audience with the Lord. The universal language of the Heart will be the Language spoken by the Kalki, as it is naturally understood by all souls. Those souls with sufficient good karma and fortunate destiny will be the ones who are graced by a meeting with the Maha-Vishnu Avatar — Lord Kalki.

Because the Kali Yuga is so very fraught with trials and tribulations, Lord Kalki makes His grace available to all. Depending upon one’s religious tradition, He can also appear in the form you most expect Him to; for it is the same omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent Divine Spirit that animates all the Avatars who have incarnated from time immemorial.

Now many are wondering, how do we reconcile the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ with the appearance of the Kalki, as well as the coming of the Madhi and Maitreya?

Could it be that the same divine incarnation functions as the same God incarnate anticipated by all the major religious traditions of the world?

What is the point? It is highly unlikely that four or five great beings are going to just show up in the four corners of the planet at the same time in order to meet the expectations of their devotees. However, it is quite possible that such an event(s) could take place wherein one Divine Being does show up in your neck of the woods at the perfect moment of your spiritual evolution. And so He has.

Truly, the world has undergone an unprecedented and unparalleled transformation since the 1950s. Particularly during the tumultuous 1960s and spiritually transformative 70s has the Western civilization experienced an awakening of sorts. So profound and fundamental were the shifts in consciousness that many have suggested that the Second Coming has occurred in the form of a pervasive Christ Consciousness suffusing our entire plane of existence. And so it has.

Completely under the radar of most of humanity, but nevertheless influential enough to change the world in magical and mysterious ways right up to this very day. While Hollywood movies were uttering benedictions like “May the FORCE be with you”, an awesome spiritual force was permeating the entire earthly realm. So palpable was this experience for many truthseekers that one was inspired to observe that the 1970s was “a time when heaven came down to earth“.

The Kalki — The Final Fulfillment of the Maha-Vishnu Avatars

Throughout Eastern religion and spiritual history, it is quite well known that the final incarnation of Lord Vishnu will embody all the greatness and power of the preceding nine. Since he comes to augur the end of the Kali Yuga, He will assume an incarnation possessing extraordinary spiritual power and sublime wisdom. Contending with the endemic ignorance of a highly unenlightened age, He will be challenged to impart knowledge where very little true knowledge has ever seen the light of day. Hence, we see a personage of truly divine splendor of both intellect and communication.

In Lord Kalki will be found the compassion and detachment of the Buddha; the love and charisma of Lord Krishna; and the dharma and radiance of Lord Rama. Going back even further, He will reflect the fearlessness and strength of Parasu-Rama, as well as the wisdom and infallible guidance of the teacher of the gods, Brihaspati. Since so many of the gods would be born in this time and come as His entourage, it was expected that a whole new form of spirituality would be gifted to humanity. In truth an extremely pure and profound spirituality has been bequeathed to humankind, but only those who are ripe and worthy may drink from this deep well of divine grace and authentic spirituality.

Kalki Puranas tell of the coming of Lord Kalki

The birth of the the Kalki Avatar is well described in the Kalki Puranas. However, one must be schooled in the most esoteric schools of Vedic astrology to correctly determine just who it is that would be born as the final and greatest incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Of course, to many of those who have been seeking the Lord in their hearts and whose lives hinged on the Second Coming of the Lord, He did appear on the world stage for but brief moment in time.

“Whenever injustice and darkness rule on Earth, I shall incarnate, again and again, to annihilate the evil and uphold Truth”
~ Lord Krishna*

These words of prophecy were spoken by another incarnation of Lord Vishnu as described below. The context is quite relevant and can be found in the Mahabharata. What is most significant is that this promise was made during the darkest period of the last major age known as the Dwapara Yuga or Bronze Age. As that era began to accelerate towards it final days, it was plunged into a war to end all wars.

*“These words uttered by Lord Krishna, more than 5000 years ago on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, stand as the promise made by God to mankind. True to this promise, the Divine has always come down to help Humanity whenever the dark and negative forces overpowered the good and righteous. This descent of the divine power in a human form is commonly known as an ‘Avatara’, a special incarnation who takes birth on Earth to set right the balance between good and evil.

All these avatars originate from a divine personality, commonly known as MahaVishnu, one of the trinity of Gods, who takes care of the sustenance of the entire Creation. In a cycle of 60,000 years, many such personalities take birth but there are ten main incarnations of God who come down to fulfill a specific and important mission. The works and activities of these personalities have been recorded in the mythology, epics and folklore of various cultures across the world.

At this important juncture of Humanity’s transition from the dark age to the New Age of Light, the Tenth Incarnation of MahaVishnu has taken birth on our Earth to remove all darkness and help us move into the Golden age of Satya Yuga. This Avatara is Lord Kalki!”[2]

Kalki, the avatar who will come at the end of the present Kali Yuga

The Prophecy of Lord Kalki and its Origins

“One of the earliest mentions of Kalki is in the Vishnu Purana, which is dated generally to be after the Gupta Empire around the 17th century B.C. In the Vedic Trimurti, Vishnu is the preserver and sustainer of life, balancing the processes of creation and destruction. Kalki is also mentioned in another of the 18 major Puranas, the Agni Purana. Agni is the god of fire in the Vedic pantheon, and symbolically represents the spiritual fire of life and the processes of transformation. It is one of the earliest works declaring Gautama Buddha to have been a manifestation of Vishnu, and seems to draw upon the Vishnu Purana in its mention of Kalki. A later work, the Kalki Purana, a minor Purana, is an extensive exposition of expectations and predictions of when, where, and why it is said he will come, and what he is expected to do. A few other minor Purana also mention him.”[3]

The same source goes on to describe quote two other major Indian scripture which speaks authoritatively about the Kalki’s future mission.

The Bhagavata Purana states, “At the end of Kali Yuga, when there exist no topics on the subject of God, even at the residences of so-called saints and respectable gentlemen, and when the power of government is transferred to the hands of ministers elected from the evil men, and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word, at that time the Lord will appear as the supreme chastiser. (2.7.38) It further describes Lord Kalki’s activities as follows: “Lord Kalki, the Lord of the universe, will mount His swift white horse Devadatta and, sword in hand, travel over the earth exhibiting His eight mystic opulences and eight special qualities of Godhead. Displaying His unequaled effulgence and riding with great speed, He will kill by the millions those thieves who have dared dress as kings.” (12.2.19-20)[3]

“The Padma Purana relates that Lord Kalki will end the age of Kali and will kill all the wicked mlecchas and, thus, destroy the bad condition of the world. He will gather all of the distinguished brahmanas and will propound the highest truth. He will know all the ways of life that have perished and will remove the prolonged hunger of the genuine brahmanas and the pious. He will be the only ruler of the world that cannot be controlled, and will be the banner of victory and adorable to the world.” (6.71.279-282)[3]

Finally, we offer this last description from the Kalki Puranas from the same reference.

“The Kalki Purana combines all of the elements from the puranas above. He is one who has power to change the course of time stream in the favour of the good. He will be one to whom the power to change the destiny of the world will be given.It states the evil family of the demon Kali will spring from the back of Brahma. They will descend to earth and cause mankind to turn towards depravity. When man stops offering yagna to the gods, Vishnu himself will descend to earth to rid the world of evil. He will be reborn as Kalki to noted Brahmin family in the city of Shambhala.” [3]

Copper engraving of Kalki from the late 18th century

The Birth Predictions of Lord Kalki

The Kalki Puranas are an ancient Indian scripture which outline the circumstances of the time and the place of birth of Lord Kalki. They also describe the predominant signs of the times, which become so dire and needful that the Lord is compelled to assume a human incarnation. He does this at regular intervals throughout the evolution of humanity with the explicit purpose of uplifting the spiritual order. Only when a civilization is built upon a sound spiritual foundation can it exist in peace and thrive with prosperity for all.

Much of what is presented in the Kalki Puranas about Lord Kalki is allegorical in nature and therefore open to various interpretations. Those commentaries which have been written appear to have rendered the original scriptural treatise in a literal context rather than the highly symbolic one that was intended. Therefore, we hesitate to even offer the many passages which relate the prophesied future of the tenth and final incarnation of Maha-Vishnu.

However, we would point out that the precise astrological arrangements predicted around his birth are so specific and purposeful that it would be difficult to ignore them. Three major qualifications are in order regarding the conjectured birth chart as follows:

I. If these planetary alignments and luminary configurations are true and exact, then it still requires an extraordinary Vedic astrologer to accurately identify them and interpret them in the proper context. Only those astrologers taught by true teachers possess the sacred knowledge and power of the lineage to perform this extremely difficult task.

II. If these heavenly circumstances do in fact reflect the actual birth timing of Lord Kalki, then we must acknowledge a long held understanding that the actual circumstances surrounding the birth of an avatar are always kept secret. Especially during the Kali Yuga, the darkest of all the ages, such highly sensitive and privileged information would NEVER be released by Paramatman (the Absolute or Brahman), except to those who could be trusted.

III. The accuracy of the astrological circumstances surrounding the birth of a great avatar is always a function of the source. If the astrologer is truly competent and wise, then why would he or she reveal such ‘highly classified’ information? Conversely, there is plenty of scriptural data that has been purposely planted to thwart those who would use such highly privileged information for their own design.

What follows is a verse from the Kalki Purana, followed by commentary, which may prove to be fairly accurate.

“Afterwards, Sumati, the wife of Vishnujasha became pregnant…. Kalki descended to earth (as a human) in the month of Baisakha on the 12th day after the full moon.”~ Kalki Purana,I(2), Verses 11 and 15[4]

• Kalki is born to a man named Vishnujasha and a woman named Sumati in the Hindu month of Baisakha, which starts from 14th or 15th April and lasts till 14th or 15th May. So, Kalki will be born 12 days from the full moon day (after 14th/15th April), which can be anytime between 26th April to 15th May.

It has long been prophesied throughout all the major religious traditions of the world that there would come a time when humankind would find itself in the throes of an end-time scenario. Each set of scriptural prognostications seems to have as its central character a divine personage who comes to the aid of faithful devotees in their time of greatest turmoil and desperation. No matter where the religion, the society, the nation or the culture is located, or predominates, somehow this larger-than-life savior is expected to show up just in the nick of time to save the day, as well as the believers.

All of us throughout Christendom have heard of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, just as those in the Orient have heard of the Lord Maitreya – the equivalent and future coming of the Buddha. Likewise, the Madhi is well known throughout the Muslim world as the eventual redeemer of Islam, as the coming Messiah is still expected by those who practice Judaism.

What is less known in Western civilization is the common belief system wherever Hinduism is either practiced or understood. Hindu scriptures speak of a uniquely great being who will likewise appear on the world stage to enact a drama that has been foretold countless times. He is known as Lord Kalki, but very few, even among His closest disciples, will recognize him as the most powerful, life-transforming and awesome personality that the Lord will assume throughout the Kali Yuga. The relevant predictions, including the astrological circumstances of His birth, are presented in the sacred Hindu scripture known as the Kalki Purana*.

So, this is where we are heading – to the end of the Kali Yuga to meet the tenth major incarnation and final fulfillment of the Vishnu Maha Avatara – Lord Kalki. Could it be that He is the very same Great God and Supreme Being fervently prayed to and eagerly awaited by all the world’s faithful and pious believers? Only His “Supreme Rasa-lila” is capable of revealing such a long sought after truth.[5]